[Deadhead]

Curious as to why others DON'T drive them on long trips. Mid 60s' Pontiacs are some of the most reliable cars on the planet even by today's standards. Set up right they are also very comfortable to drive for long periods. And, they are much easier to fix if you were to break down than your computerized LSwhatever.

[TheSilverBuick]

When I bought my '69 Firebird a few years ago I flew to northern Alabama, inspected the car, handed over cash and drove it home to northern Nevada. It was right at 2,000 miles by the time I got home.

A few round trips to southern California at around 1200 miles all in and a few 600 mile round trip weekends to either Salt Lake City or Las Vegas.

Planning on taking the Firebird on Drag Week next year, will drive it out, race it and hope to drive it home.

[AdamIsAdam]

Originally Posted by Chastings

I've driven this thing coast-coast twice!

Sweet! Those must have been fun trips

[mechanickeith]

Originally Posted by indymanjoe

Look up Keith Collier here,he drives some miles for sure. mechanickeith is his screen name

The 61 Tempest now has over 565,000 miles. I drove her to Albq. New Mexico a couple of times from Phoenix just in the last month. That's 1000 miles in a weekend. I put 48,000 miles on the 65 GP is 22 months before an accident sidelined her for a bit.

[Drag Star Le Mans]

My car has less miles than it shows because of many long smoking burnouts.
Yes I will post some video to prove it.

[AdamIsAdam]

Originally Posted by mechanickeith

... I put 48,000 miles on the 65 GP is 22 months before an accident sidelined her for a bit.

Which brings up the next point for discussion, how safe are they to drive so much. My 64 didn't even come with seat belts. And I'm sure many here have seen the you tube video of the 50s impala being crash tested into a modern impala. Yes, they were bigger, but they were NOT better in a crash for sure.

I fear any kind of accident mostly because of the lack of head rests.

But yes, I still enjoy driving them as much as possible! I just worry more now than when I was a kid. I guess today comes with age, mine and the car's.

[storminnorman]

in '97 was TDY in Tucson, went to Jules' to look for firebird parts. did not have any that i needed, but had a 68 350 auto, bought it in May and went back in Oct and drove it < 2400 mi home to Md. had to put a steering belt on in Missouri. in '13 drove my 69 Lemans to brothers in Chelsea Ok for Thanksgiving. Columbus had to replace the alt., got as far as Rolla, Mo., lost an axle bearing. Frank trailer-ed me the last 400 mi. replaced bearing and ran around the weekend then drove home. replaced the alt again in Indy. Auto store charged my Battery while I swapped the Alt, they were great. round trip of 2400 miles also.

[Judge-1969]

Well, just made it back from the weekend trip in the '71 Lemans. The car drove and ran perfect! Engine ran fairly cool and was a ton of fun to drive! Three quarters of the ride was freeway driving 70 mph! She just floated down the road. All in all, put on about 350 miles. What a blast! My longest trip yet!

I told my kids, whom I took with, that this is what it was like growing up in the '70's and going away for the weekend. LOL No electronics, no A/C, and an am/fm radio with one speaker! Ahhhh, the good old days. Life was much simpler then wasn't it?

[tigergto]

I take my car to the Adirondack Nationals every year. Two and a half hour drive one way. Part Interstate and part back roads always a fun and comfortable ride.Having AC helps quite a bit for this senor citizen.

[66gplvr]

Back in 1985, I was planning to move out to Tucson, AZ, but needed a bigger car than my Monte Carlo. I found this awesome 65 Bonneville Brougham 4 door hardtop for sale in the Detroit area and bought it on the spot for $650. It was from Florida and was absolutely loaded for a car from that era. I did some maintenance on it and loaded it up with everything I owned and set off for Tucson, by myself. My parents were nervous, this was a 20 year old car. I left near the end of July and averaged 15 miles per gallon with the A/C cranking and didn't have any problems at all. I still miss that car and would love to get it back someday, if possible.

[geeteeohguy]

Last weekend, drove the '67 on a 600 mile trip....4.5 hours each way. Stock carb, points, engine. Driven my '67 130,000 miles in the past 30+ years I've owned it: Yellowstone, Grand Canyon (twice), etc....These cars are just as or more reliable than modern ones if they are maintained and cared for. I wouldn't hesitate to jump into either of my GTO's and drive them cross-country at any time. I favor the '67 on long trips, though, with its 2.56 rear gear ratio and great MPG at high road speeds!

[AdamIsAdam]

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm jealous of your 2.56 gears! LOL

[rexs73gto]

I was stationed in Norfolk VA when in the Navy, & drove back & forth to VA to MI. about every 3-4 months. Also when i was a cop I moved to Casper WY from Niles MI. & drove my 73 there & when you leave Lincoln when on 80-90 it was just a LONG highway. I got to avg. about 95mph & a few times I was up to 125 with it . The car had 3:08's then . Got stopped once but the other cop was just wanting to talk as he was bored because he would drive 4 hours one way & 4 hours back the other for his tour each day. He didn't see many cars back then & seeing a car every couple of hours for him was normal. Going from Niles to Casper I think was right at 1600 miles. Going from Norfolk to Niles was about 850, & that trip would take me about 14-15 hours.

[floffy]

My longest trip was from my place (45 minutes) from Amsterdam in the Netherlands through Belgium and Luxembourg to North east France to visit my parents near Nancy.
About 600 miles one way so 1200 miles in a weekend.

[Ben M.]

I'm impressed that some people actually drive these cars regularly anymore other than me and a handful of others! While I do agree that "if you could drive these cars in the 60's and 70's without issue, why can't you do it now?" is a very valid point and one I prove regularly, the biggest hangup towards driving a 60's era or older car regularly is the parts and service availability on the road. It's one thing to be driving a '67 big car across the country in 1975 when Pontiac v8s were still made and dealers\service parts were readily available along with the knowledge of how to repair them, but in 2016 when the vast vast majority of working mechanics weren't even born when these engines were in production much less worked on or even seen one before and the average parts store takes 2-3 days to get simple things like a water pump or a carb kit, unless you travel with a full complement of tools and parts to service all but major failure, it's a very valid concern. When I got stranded in the middle of the California desert (Kettleman City!) due to a failed longshaft TH400 transmission, there wasn't a single shop in 100 miles that could rebuild it. All of them insisted they'd just go to a junkyard in LA and find another, then toss it in and I'd be good to go (on my dime, about $3500-4500 were the quotes). A transmission that hadn't been made since 1976, in a junkyard in 2013? No way. I had to be at work the next day and they were going to charge me $150/day to store the car at their shop.

I drive my old stuff everywhere, but it's constantly checked and re-checked and I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a small part of me that wonders and worries how much the tow truck bill would be if I broke down 300 miles from home and no shop would be willing to fix the car...

Originally Posted by AdamIsAdam

Which brings up the next point for discussion, how safe are they to drive so much. My 64 didn't even come with seat belts. And I'm sure many here have seen the you tube video of the 50s impala being crash tested into a modern impala. Yes, they were bigger, but they were NOT better in a crash for sure.

I'd say that adding 3 point seat belts is the smartest thing you can do on any car that didn't come with them. Maybe upgrading to slightly later seats with headrests ('69-72 A-body for earlier A-body) if you aren't into the modern seat transplant look. As far as taking a head-on with another car, if you're afraid of that you might as well just stay home because that can happen in any car. I accept that it's a risk as part of driving any car, not just my old ones.

[AdamIsAdam]

I'm not worried about a head on in any car. I'm worried about any accident in a 50 year old car with virtually no safety features.

I agree, 3 point seat belts are very helpful, but without proper seat backs with head rests, it's not helping my neck any. That's my #1 fear, whiplash, serious whiplas.

Here's the crash test I was talking about.

https://youtu.be/fPF4fBGNK0U

Hey, look, GTO in tron land! LOL

https://youtu.be/SRAUGtV4PnY

This one is pretty scary too:

https://youtu.be/siT-SIfOnQw

[Ben M.]

Originally Posted by AdamIsAdam

I agree, 3 point seat belts are very helpful, but without proper seat backs with head rests, it's not helping my neck any. That's my #1 fear, whiplash, serious whiplas.

Then don't drive an old car, or really any car that doesn't have the 5 star crash rating.

Originally Posted by AdamIsAdam

Here's the crash test I was talking about.

https://youtu.be/fPF4fBGNK0U

Yeah, that test was all the rage on the internet when it came out. Problem is I believe that 50's era body style still had an X-frame and tended to collapse just like that, which is why they haven't built frames like that in 50+ years.

Either way, a 60 year old car or a 6 month old car, collisions happen and if you're afraid then there's not much you can do except not drive an older car.

[AdamIsAdam]

Getting back to the topic, I LOVE driving all my cars. Sorry for the digression. Just wanted to be clear. I love to drive them. Won't ever stop. Just discussing the pros/cons.

[muscle_collector]

Originally Posted by The Boss

Still got it too don't ya?

yep still only has about 31 or 32k on it

[Ozzmann]

My longest trip was around 2400kms over 4 days, 2 x 1000kms days on hiway and 400kms around town and at track in-between, and the car never missed a beat!